Mau Loa Ohana
by Xennie.B
Summary: A case brings a secret from Steve's past to light, one that was right here on the Island but he'd been hiding it from the rest of the team.
1. Chapter 1

Who knew, that when Danny Williams took the Governor's call that morning, that his mind was going to be blown before the day was out.

Steve had been out surfing with Kono when the Governor had called , so naturally Danny's number was the next she tried.

After getting all the details from her, Danny send a text to the water loving duo, knowing they'd catch up once they left the surf. Picking up Chin, he and Danny headed toward the centre of the island, to the address the Governor had given him.

The attacked husband was the owner of a local shipping company which appeared to be doing well, if the house was anything to go by.

The husband, Jason Pickett, was found deceased; killed instantly by the gunshot wound to the centre of his chest. The wife, Diane Pickett, however, managed to survive. Her wound had been slightly off target; piercing her chest on the upper right side. She had a collapsed lung, but luckily the paramedics had reached her in time and she'd been taken the hospital for emergency surgery.

The couple had been found in their bed by the nanny. An elderly lady, Kali O'Hala had taken the couple's young daughter out to her private unit at the back of the manor grounds while they processed the scene and Max handled the husband's body.

The Nanny was worried about the little girl being exposed to the scene which Danny could understand. He was pretty sure he'd seen the little girl in Grace's class at school; it was a split class and he was pretty sure she was in the lower half of the split, while Grace was in the higher.

Steve and Kono arrived just as they'd finished and Max was wheeling out the deceased.

Without a word, Steve strode over to the body bag and unzipped it, staring down at the body.

"Kono?" Danny asked, hoping their rookie would have some idea of what was making their SEAL act weirder than normal.

"I dunno guys," she replied with a shake of her head, eyes trained on their boss. "He's been shifty and silent since I told him the address."

"Where's the wife and… daughter?" Steve spoke up for the first time, turning to look at the rest of the team, face contorted into a look of worry and anxiety.

"There's a daughter?" Kono asked in surprise; no-one had told them about a kid.

"Yeah about the same age as Grace," Danny answered her, before eyeing his partner curiously. "You know this family, Babe?" he asked. He'd never seen the man this rattled; not even when they had been chasing Hesse a few months back.

"You could say that. Where are they, Danny?" Steve quickly dodged the question. Clearly they weren't going to be getting any answers yet.

"The wife was taken to the ER with a single gunshot to the upper chest. She's having surgery for a collapsed lung, and to remove the slug last we heard. The little girl is with the Nanny out back," Danny explained. Steve was moving through the house to the backdoor before he'd finished.

"You two start talking to the house staff I'm going to find out what's wrong with Rambo." Danny sighed.

Chin and Kono nodded in acceptance as their 'second boss' moved to follow after their 'boss boss'.

Danny caught up with Steve just as he was knocking on the unit door. The Nanny answered immediately; her troubled expression breaking into a relieved smile at the sight of Steve. "Steven, I'm so glad you are here. I did not know what to tell the _Keike._ She is upset and confused, but I did not want to say anything without checking with you or the mistress first," The elder lady explained letting the two men step into her home.

"Thank you, Kali, I'll take care of it. Will you go to the hospital, keep an eye on Diane and call me the minute you have news?" Steve said giving her a reassuring hug. Danny stood back and watched the scene unfold before him, not wanting to intrude, hoping he'd maybe get some answers. He knew that Steve would tell him to leave if he didn't want him to see this.

"Of, course, I will. _Keike_, there's someone here to see you," she called down a hallway which, Danny assumed, led to the bedrooms. The thundering of running young footsteps was one Danny would know anywhere and within seconds the young blonde girl he had briefly seen earlier was in the doorway. Her scared blue eyes landed on Steve and instantly her whole demeanour changed to one of excited relief as she threw herself into the SEAL's arms.

"Papa! I was so scared. There were people everywhere and they wouldn't let me see Mama or Jason."

Danny felt like someone had punched him in the gut. He'd been teasing his partner about his inability to deal with children and yet, there he stood comforting a young girl with ease as she cried into his shoulder and called him 'Papa'.

"I know, Mags, it's ok. I'm gonna take you to my place and I'll explain everything there, ok?"

"But, Papa, you'll get in trouble! We're not allowed to go anywhere without Mama or Jason."

"I know, Baby, but just this time I think it will be ok."

"Ok, Papa."

Finally Steve turned to Danny and looked him straight in the eye. Danny could see the guilt there at a secret kept, as well as morose and maybe a touch of fear, so he quickly slammed a lid on the rising rant and gave his partner a reassuring smile. Seeing Steve's frame relax minutely and the tentative smile that was returned he knew he'd made the right decision.

"Kono, Chin and I can handle things here, Babe. You take her and go; I'll come see you at your place as soon as I can."

"Thanks, Danno," Steve sighed before gently nudging the bundle curled tightly in his arms to gain her attention. "Mags, there's someone here I want you to meet. This is Danny, he's my partner at work that I was telling you about. Danny, this is my daughter Maggie."

"Hello, Maggie," Danny smiled gently, ducking his head slightly to look at the unsure eyes peering out at him. While he'd been in the room the whole time, the minute her eyes had settled on her father there had been no-one else and she probably hadn't even noticed Danny.

"I've seen you at school; you're Grace's Dad."

"That's right, I've seen you there too. You're in Gracie's class, right?"

"Grace is my friend, I like her. She says you're pretty cool and Papa likes you," Maggie said giving him a tentative smile as he apparently met her approval.

"That's good cause I like your Papa too. Now, I'll see you and your Papa later, alright? Don't let him drive too fast on the way home. You'll have to tell me if he does so I can tell him off when I get there." Danny smirked as Maggie giggled and nodded an affirmative while Steve simply rolled his eyes.

"Okay, Mags, we're gonna play a little game, you've got to keep your eyes shut while I get us out to the car, and when we get there you'll have to tell me all the smells you could smell while your eyes were closed."

Maggie grinned at him before squeezing her eyes shut and pressing her face back to Steve's shoulder.

"Have fun you two and I'll be there soon," Danny said, giving his partner's shoulder a reassuring squeeze which Steve gratefully accepted with a smile, though it was full of anguish once more now that he wasn't putting on a brave face for his little girl.

"And I will call you as soon as I know something." Kali said, closing the door behind them as they left.

Steve nodded and thanked them both, before heading around the edge of the house where Maggie wouldn't likely be exposed to the talk of 5-0 or HPD in the house let alone the smell of blood which was beginning to permeate through the rooms connected to the master bedroom.

"Steven is a good man. He was a good boy when I used to watch him as a _Keiki_. I just wish the mistress wouldn't let the master tell her otherwise. He is a good Papa to Maggie and she loves him dearly, no matter how little she gets to see him," Kali said with a sad smile as Danny walked her around to the garage.

As Danny watched the older woman drive off, he was left with even more questions and no answers to help quell them.


	2. Chapter 2

It was hours before Danny finally made it to Steve's house. He didn't knock; he rarely did, unless he knew Steve would be entertaining Catherine. Because that was something he just didn't need to see, ever.

Moving through the house and out the back, he found his partner in one of his deck chairs, watching the young girl like a hawk. Maggie was completely oblivious to her father's over protectiveness as she concentrated on building sandcastles close to the back edge of the lawn. Sitting down beside the SEAL, Danny got a twitch of Steve's lips to acknowledge his arrival, but his eyes never left Maggie.

"Babe, she's not going to disappear if you take your eyes of her for one second." Danny prompted softly.

Steve sighed, relaxing back into his chair a little, but still having to struggle to take his eyes off his daughter to look at Danny.

"You ok, Babe?"

"I don't know what I'm doing here, Danny. I've never had to look after her on my own before."

"Well from what I can see, you're doing fine. She's not complaining about being hungry, so I'm guessing you got her something for lunch. And considering she doesn't look like a tomato, I'd say you've got her sunscreened up. You're doing great, Babe. Besides, you know we'll all help if you need it. Chin and Kono probably have hundreds of hours of kids wrangling experience between them with their family and, as you know, I'm father of the year."

Steve snorted at that but couldn't help but smile. Danny was glad to see it was a lot less strained than it had been before.

"Seriously, Babe, other than worrying about your parenting skills, how're you doing? Have you heard from the hospital?"

"Yeah, about an hour ago. Diane came through the surgery with no complications. They're still going to be monitoring her closely but they're hopeful she'll be awake and able to have Maggie visit in the morning. How's the case going, did you find anything?"

They were momentarily distracted as Maggie ran over to them. She gave Danny a shy smile, before asking her Papa if she could have a drink. Steve reached down into the ice box beside him and pulled out a pink water bottle, which Maggie happily accepted. With a grin, she kissed him on the cheek and skipped back down to her sandcastle village.

Steve really had nothing to worry about; he was doing just fine, Danny thought, but he didn't say anything. Instead he went back to their previous conversation.

"Don't think I didn't notice you dodge my other question, buddy." When Steve didn't look like he was going to admit how he felt, Danny sighed and brought him up to speed. "We found a bloody fingerprint on one of the side doors. Guy's name is Simo; he's been done a few times for B&amp;E, but never had to do time in Halawa because he never steals anything. The guy's a total meth head; breaks into people's homes when he's high, looking for somewhere to sleep."

"Murder seems a bit of a leap for him," Steve said with a frown.

"Unless he had a reason. Jason was shot first, Diane seemed to be more of an after-thought. None of the house staff heard the shots and there was potato and pillow down in the entry wounds."

"Poor man's silencers, at least Maggie didn't have to wake up to the sound of her mum being shot, her room's at the other end of the hall," Steve muttered, eyes back on Maggie, most likely making sure she didn't head back their way; this was a conversation no child should ever hear.

"Exactly, and in a house that size, with thick walls, it was probably enough. But it could have still woken Diane, and she was shot to silence her."

"Where is Simo now?" Steve asked, his voice hard with anger , hands clenched tightly where they rested.

"We picked him up before I came here. He had a pile of meth, probably close to ten grands worth, sitting right there on his table and was completely off his face. Chin and Kono are questioning him but I'm not sure how much they'll get out of him before he comes down a bit. They'll call as soon as they know anything."

Steve nodded, lost in thought for a moment and Danny sat beside him, offering silent support as Steve processed everything.

He was about to push Steve to answer his earlier question on how he was doing when Maggie arrived, begging Steve to help her finish her village. Steve chuckled and climbed to his feet and cast an unsure glance in Danny's direction. Danny waved his hand. "Go, play, I'll man the phones here."

"Thanks, Danno," Steve muttered, before following her down onto the sand.

Danny watched them closely as they got down in the sand and Steve followed Maggie's instructions perfectly as she began to dole them out.

The interaction was relaxed and, while still possibly a tiny bit cautious on Steve's part, the SEAL clearly loved the little girl. He took care and kept her smiling while they worked, something Danny had noticed Steve was quite capable of when he and Grace visited to hijack his beach.

Danny felt something is his chest clench as Steve laughed loudly at something Maggie said, before scooping her off her feet and running towards the surf. He was shin deep before swinging her down, both of them splashing into the surf fully clothed but without a care in the world. Steve never once let her get out of reach or go too deep.

Of course the man would be a good father once he relaxed. He was still a bit of a big kid himself at heart, but was caring and attentive at the same time. And didn't it just figure that seeing what a good father he was, would make him fall just that bit further in love with the man.


	3. Chapter 3

Danny stood in the doorway watching Maggie, whose figure was drowning in one of Steve's t-shirts, draw at the table while Steve cooked their dinner. Not long after their swim Danny had needed to return to work. Chin had called to say that Simo was starting to make sense and they'd need to follow up on some leads.

Danny had been reluctant to leave, especially since Steve had only just finished beating himself up for the fact that he's taken Maggie into the water in the only clothes she had with her, when the call came. He'd thankfully had the 'Emergency Grace Kit' he kept in his car, which consisted of pack of clean underwear that would thankfully fit Maggie well enough.

The rest of Grace's clothes wouldn't sit right on Maggie's slightly taller frame, but she was more than happy to drown in one of her father's tees while her own clothes were cleaned. Her reaction to wearing one of his tees had made Steve smile and at one point he'd had to suspiciously blink his eyes a few times when she told him how she liked that it smelt like him and made her feel safe.

After calming Steve down and digging out some coloured pencils and a paper pad from the emergency kit Danny made his way back to work. Even with the added distraction of wondering what Steve and Maggie were doing, they managed to make good progress on the case. That itself was a bit of a mixed blessing; the case was wrapping up quickly, but he knew Steve wasn't going to take the news well when he was told.

"Are you going to stand in the doorway all night, Danno, or are you going to come in? Dinner will be ready soon," Steve told him, not turning to look. How that man always seemed to know when Danny was there, even with his back to the door Danny never knew. "Something disgusting healthy no doubt," Danny muttered with a smirk as he planted himself at the table beside Maggie, who grinned at him and instantly began flicking the pages of her sketchbook back a few pages to show Danny all her drawings so far.

"Grilled Chicken with Asparagus and salad."

"Of course it is."

"Sounds yummy, Papa."

Danny rolled his eyes. "Of course it does."

Maggie giggled at him while Steve finally glanced over his shoulder and smirked.

Steve waited until Maggie was tucked into bed, with a bit of direction from Danny, before asking about the case. He trusted that Danny would have told him if he'd needed to know anything earlier.

They were sitting out on the Lanai, as they did most evenings if they were being honest, beers in hand and the ice box between them with their next round. Danny paused trying to figure out where to start; either way Steve was not going to be happy by the end of this conversation.

"Simo started talking. He didn't make a whole lot of sense at first got there, but Kono played him well and we managed to get it out of him that there was a gun he didn't want anyone to find. We sent HPD to search his place, and they found it. Ballistics confirmed it's a match to the murder weapon." Danny paused to take a swig of his beer as Steve processed the information and Danny could practically see the SEAL's mind piecing things together and determining possible outcomes.

"Why did he go after Jason and Diane?" Danny took a deep breath; that was the part he knew Steve would blow a gasket over.

"He was after Jason. He doesn't even remember Diane being there, let alone shooting her. Jason was his dealer, Babe. Toast checked with people I'm pretending don't exist and apparently Jason was very well known. It was one of those, 'don't contact me unless I'm at work' kinda deals. Apparently running your own shipping business is a good enough front; no one questions when you go down to the docks to check on something at short notice. He'd do some business at the docks and be home in time for supper."

Steve's beer bottle shattered off the closest wall before he froze, ear tipped towards the house to make sure he hadn't woken Maggie up.

When it became clear that Maggie slept on, Danny softly continued telling Steve the details, watching his reactions carefully, in case he had to stop him from doing something stupid. "Jason had cut Simo off because he contacted him at home one night. Simo was high when he broke into the house, but claims he was originally only after the stash he figured was hidden somewhere in the house. He couldn't find anything so he went to find Jason. He says he was so mad at the sight of him, that he just shot him without asking or thinking about it. When HPD found the gun, they found the keys to a Mercedes; he'd found the drugs in the trunk."

"Diane?"

Danny sighed. "We don't know if she knew about the drugs, Babe. We'll talk to her tomorrow morning."

Steve was murderous beside him, fists clenched and teeth grinding. Danny didn't blame him; he knew he'd be furious if he ever found out Stan had done something to put Grace in danger. "Babe?" Danny pushed gently, not wanting to cause a total eruption.

"That man." Steve practically spat the word. "That man said I wasn't fit to… He… All this time… I…"

Danny frowned, not understanding what Steve was trying to say, he was too buried in his anger. He needed to let off some steam and he needed to do it sooner rather than later, before he tried to put his fist through the same wall that the beer bottle had abused earlier.

Moving quickly to the front of the house, Danny grabbed Steve's sneakers from the front stoop and returned to his partner's side. It wouldn't fix the hurt, anger and betrayal that was likely coursing through his blood, but it would hopefully take the edge off enough to make him feel less homicidal.

He stood in front of Steve, holding the sneakers out for a few seconds before Steve even seemed to notice. Steve's eyes travelled up to Danny's face, unreadable as they stared into each other's eyes for a moment before Steve took the sneakers. Danny stepped back as Steve pulled himself to his feet, but Steve's hand came out and caught him by the back of the neck and, for one insane moment, Danny thought Steve was going to kiss him.

Instead – and Danny didn't know whether to be relieved or disappointed - Steve pressed his forehead against Danny's, eyes squeezed tight shut and body trembling with supressed emotion. He seemed to draw comfort from his partner, so Danny stayed where he was, hands running up and down Steve's forearm.

"Go, Babe. I'll watch Maggie while you're gone," Danny whispered gently after a moment and felt Steve minutely nod against him, before suddenly he was gone, slipping past and taking off across the beach into the darkness.

As he was left alone, Danny let out a shaky breath, running a hand through his hair and trying to get his heart rate and emotions back under control. When he was sure he could actually walk, he moved back into the house to watch over his partner's little girl.


	4. Chapter 4

Danny made himself comfortable on the couch and waited for Steve to return home. He didn't last long before the day finally caught up with him and he drifted off to sleep.

He wasn't sure how long he'd been asleep, when he woke up to someone sitting down beside his legs on the sofa.

"Steve?" Danny asked sleepily, pulling his legs from behind where Steve was sitting on the edge of the couch and managing to swing them around, without upsetting his knee, so he could sit up beside the other man. Even though he couldn't clearly make out the other man's features through the dark, he knew it was his partner so his question wasn't so much an "Is that you?" but more of an "Are you ok?" and Steve seemed to know that.

With a sigh, Steve leant back on the couch, close enough that they touched from knee to shoulder; Steve practically slumped into his side.

"I met Diane when I was on shore leave on the mainland," Steve began softly and Danny forced himself to snap the rest of the way awake and listen carefully. He had a feeling he wasn't going to hear the story again. "She was working at the bar in the hotel I was staying at. After months on a hard mission, I wanted something more than a military base, so a hotel seemed like the best option. I met her about three days into my leave, we got talking and hit it off so she was happy to keep me company for the rest of my stay." Steve smiled wistfully at the memory. When my leave was over, we went our separate ways and never expected to see each other again. Six months later I was on leave from another mission and there was a message waiting for me."

"She was pregnant," Danny added softly as Steve paused. The taller man nodded and they sat quietly for a moment as Steve gathered his thoughts.

"I transferred to be closer for the rest of her pregnancy. I made it to her last few months of appointments and was there for the birth. We didn't get back together, neither of us really contemplated it, but we were happy as friends with a beautiful baby girl. Diane moved back with her mother to help with Maggie when I was called back to duty. Every time I had leave, I would visit and spend as much time as I could with Maggie. Sometimes, if I'd been gone for a long mission, Maggie would have trouble remembering me, but as she got older, it was easier. Diane was really good about talking to her about me and showing my pictures. We tried Skype occasionally, but I was rarely in a position to make a call like that."

Danny rested his hand on Steve's forearm and gave it a gentle squeeze of support. He couldn't imagine what it felt like, seeing your own daughter looking at you and not know who you were, or even only being able to see her sporadically. Danny knew he'd never be strong enough to deal with it. Hell, he moved to freaking Hawaii just to stay with Grace.

"She would bring Maggie to see Dad here. I never came, other than the first time when I introduced them, but she made sure to make the trip at least once a year. She said Maggie needed to know all her grandparents. One trip here when Maggie was five, Diane met Jason. They hit it off, a year later they were married and Maggie had a step father who had no interest, unless she could make him look good."

Danny scowled at the thought, for once grateful in Rachel's choice of Stan at least he generally seemed to care about him little girl. Though he would deny ever having that thought with his last breath.

"Diane didn't introduce me to Jason until they were engaged, and we hatred each other from the start. I didn't like him, how he ignored Maggie, and I definitely didn't trust him; there was just something off about him. He didn't like how close I was to Diane, even though there wasn't anything there anymore." Steve paused again and this time Danny did nothing other than silently support him. Steve had sunk further into his side as he shared his story, enough so that Danny had his arm wrapped around Steve's shoulders and the back of the taller man's head was resting on his collarbone.

"When I came home a few months ago, and decided to stay, I thought it was finally my chance to be a real father to Maggie, one she deserved. I told Diane as soon as it was confirmed that I was staying and it wasn't even a week later that the papers arrived. Jason had his lawyers convince the court I was an unfit guardian to a young girl due to being a SEAL. They used the fact that in the year and a half since the wedding, I hadn't made it back to Hawaii once due to my job, and that due to the presumed nature of SEAL missions and the recent murder of my father, that I was too emotionally unstable for a young girl. Until I proved otherwise, my custody was revoked and I could only see Maggie during supervised visits with either Jason or Diane present. If I broke any of the rules, any right I had to see her would have been revoked. I confronted Diane about it, and she was just as upset as I was. She'd tried to stop him but she hadn't been able to. "

Steve looked over at him Danny tried to relax the tension that had entered his frame so he didn't upset Steve. He was so angry on the other man's behalf.

"We're not even sure how he managed to do it, get the court order, since he's not even Maggie's legal guardian. Though I guess now I can assume he used his underground contacts and bought someone off. I'd try to visit a couple of times a week, when it was just Diane, Maggie and I and everything was fine. Sometimes Jason would demand to join us and the change in Maggie was heartbreaking, she was nervous to talk to me or do anything in case it got Jason mad and he stopped me from coming. He'd already threatened with stopping my visits when she was having a bit of a tantrum about something. Diane and I have been trying ever since to get the custody order removed and Diane and Maggie away from him, but it's difficult."

"Oh, Babe," Danny sighed pulling the bigger man closer in a hug. "Thank you for telling me all of this, but I wish I'd known sooner. I could have helped or at least been there for you when you needed to talk."

"You're here now."

"Yes, and I'll be here whenever you need me."

"Stay with me tonight? I really don't want to be alone right now."

"I'll stay, Babe. Come on; let's get you to bed."

"Thanks, Danno."


	5. Chapter 5

Danny woke with a warm weight spread across his chest. He knew for a fact that he moved around in his sleep, so Steve had apparently decided the best way to stop him was to use the blond as a pillow.

"You awake, Babe?" he asked softly, hand coming up to rest on the back of Steve's neck.

"Yeah. I need to get Maggie up so we can go to the hospital. "The reply was mumbled into his chest, before Steve pulled away. The SEAL climbed out of bed and moved towards the en-suite without looking back at Danny.

Okay, so apparently they weren't going to talk about the obvious elephant in the room; even if them sharing a bed had been platonic. Considering where Steve's head was likely still at, he wasn't surprised he wasn't up to talking about anything else, and Danny could wait. For now.

"Babe," Danny called as he got up and stepped back into his slacks and dress shirt that were resting on the chair in the corner of the room. "You go get Maggie up and dressed. I'll throw us together something for breakfast."

"Thanks, Danno."

"No problem."

Maggie was bouncing so hard, desperate to see her Mom that Danny was amazed she hadn't pulled Steve's arm from its socket as they made their way through the hospital corridors.

Kali had stayed with Diane all night, not wanting her to wake up alone and confused. She had sent Steve a message, letting him know that Diane was awake and allowed visitors, along with her room number so they didn't have to waste time at reception.

Chin and Kono were already waiting for them when they arrived at Diane's room. Neither knew the whole truth yet, though they would have a fair idea from working the case. Danny had left the complete explanation up to Steve, it was his story after all and the cousins respected that and hadn't asked while they had been working. Chin gave a smile and Kono waved cheerfully as they approached so that Maggie wouldn't be afraid of them. The young girl still glanced up at her Papa, but at his reassuring smile and nod she smiled shyly back at them.

Steve glanced in the door of the private room they'd arrived at, making sure it was okay for Maggie to go in; he didn't want her see anything too upsetting. Thankfully Diane was awake and gave him a tired smile. She was dressed in the usual medical gown, an IV in her arm and Steve could see a tube peeking out from the side of her gown but nothing that would really upset their daughter. Returning the smile, Steve pulled his head back out of the room and knelt down before Maggie.

"Do you wanna go in first, Mags? Just be careful, your mom's going to be sore for a little while yet, so you can't climb on the bed with her unless she says it's okay," Steve said, looking into her eyes to make sure she understood.

"Okay, Papa." She nodded and, getting a smile in return, she moved past him into the room, her excited cry of "Mom" following in her wake.

"You doing okay, brah?" Chin asked as Steve stood back up, head tilted towards the door as he listened to the conversation happening inside.

"I'll be better once this is over," Steve sighed, running his hand down his face and Danny had to resist the urge to reach out and comfort the other man.

Instead, he stayed where he was and asked, "How do you wanna play this, Babe?"

"Kono, Maggie's more likely to accept your company. Will you watch her while we talk to Diane. I can't question her due to conflict of interest, but I… I need to hear it for myself. Danny will lead the questioning as he knows the full story, Chin you second him."

"No problem, Boss," Kono smiled, Chin nodding in agreement.

Diane took the questioning well. They all kept a close eye on her heart monitor, knowing if she was scared or lying it was likely to rise. It wasn't as effective as a lie detector, but along with Steve's knowledge of the woman it was enough to satisfy them all that she was telling the truth when she swore she'd had no idea about Jason's side business.

When they were done with their questions, Chin left to find Kono and bring Maggie back, leaving Steve and Danny alone with Diane.

"So, this is the infamous partner you're always talking about," Diane commented, smiling at Danny who had stepped back to allow Steve into the seat beside her.

"You talk about me, Babe?" Danny smirked.

"We commiserate," Steve shot back Danny's own words at him, much to the shorter man's amusement.

Diane cleared her throat, breaking the men's eye contact with a curious look that Danny didn't want to think too much about. "The doctors say I need to stay here for a few days and, since Maggie survived the night with her Papa, would you like her to stay with you while I'm here?"

Steve stared at Diane in shock and even Danny felt little surprised about the offer after what the SEAL had told him, but then he remembered that Steve had said she was against the court order to begin with.

"I know you have to work, but I'm sure Kali won't mind looking after her during the day like she normally does. Then she can stay with you the rest of the time. With Jason gone, I can get rid of that stupid order and you can spend more time with her. I know you're not used to having her around constantly so if it's too much right now, I can…"

"No!" Steve quickly cut her off. "I'll look after her and I'll talk to Kali about during the day. I'm sure Danny can help; his daughter is only a year older than Mags, and he'll know what to do if I get stuck."

Diane smiled and cast another curious look in Danny's direction, but didn't say anything as Maggie made her reappearance; effortlessly distracting everyone in the room.


	6. Chapter 6

Diane's stay in hospital ended up being extended to a week and a half. She developed an infection and because of the proximity to her heart and lungs the Doctors wanted to keep her in until they were sure it had cleared.

Steve had never had a period in his whole life where he felt as out of his depth as he did in that time. Thank god for Danny's presence and support. His partner has been his grounding and assured him he was doing a good job at being Maggie's Papa, despite Steve's self-doubts. With Maggie around, nothing had happened between the two men, and while the looks and 'accidental' touches were happening more frequently, Steve could never find the right moment to talk to Danny about their relationship, or the night he'd asked his partner to stay with him.

Danny had spent most of the week with them; though he'd moved back to sleeping on the couch. The weekend in the middle of Maggie's stay was also a Grace weekend, so Danny brought her over to stay as well and the two girls had a blast together.

Today though, he had to say goodbye to his little girl. At least this time he knew when she went home that things would be different. Diane wouldn't stop him from seeing his daughter, and despite being in hospital she'd already contacted her lawyers to start writing up a joint custody agreement.

Diane had been released from hospital earlier that afternoon, and had come by to have dinner with them before taking Maggie home again.

While she'd been in the hospital, Steve had sent Narcotics to the house and they'd removed any trace of Jason's drugs and deals; even finding the hidden trap door under the Persian rug in his office, which led to a secret cellar where he had stored the drugs.

As Jason's wife and the fact he had no other family still alive, Diane had inherited everything and Steve had wanted his friend and their daughter to have a safe home to return to. Which was why it now came with a new, state of the art alarm system and changed locks.

"Where's Danny this evening?" Diane asked, breaking Steve from his thoughts.

They'd moved out onto the Lanai after dinner to relax while Maggie curled up on the couch surrounded by her stuffed animals, watching her newest Disney movie that Steve had bought her as a 'going away' present.

"What do you mean? Probably at his own place."

"Really, he has his own place?" Diane asked with a smirk.

"Di, what are you on about?" Steve sighed, knowing that when she got an idea in her head, and that there was no point beating around the bush. It was better to just let her go with it.

"Well, I just assumed he lived with you, considering how much time he spends here."

Steve didn't comment just stared at her before glancing back out to the ocean.

"Every night when Maggie called me to tell me about her day it was, 'Papa and Uncle Danny' this and 'Papa and Uncle Danny' that. Even his daughter spent the weekend here with you."

"He's my partner and best friend. He's a great Dad and helped me out while looking after Maggie, because I was worried I'd screw it up." Steve shrugged. "Gracie loves playing here and we knew she and Mags were school friends, so we thought it might be nice for them to have a sleep over and spend the weekend together."

"And Papa and Daddy got to have a sleepover as well," Diane smirked.

"Diane," Steve warned though he knew it was no good. "It's not like that."

"Why not, Steve? I saw the way you looked at him, the way he responded to you. The two of you seem to move in sync; always aware of the other, silently supporting. Partners and best friends might help out, but they don't practically move in to do it."

Steve stayed silent beside her, not sure what to say and he was eternally thankful when Maggie came out and scrambled up into his lap without a word. She made herself comfortable leaning back against his chest and he wrapped his arms securely around her as she told them all about the movie.

Once Maggie seemed to be winding down her story, Diane told her she needed to head inside to pack up the last of her things and get ready to go. Maggie nodded a little sadly, before turning and burying herself in her Papa's chest.

"I don't wanna leave Papa lonely again," she whispered softly turning her head just enough to glance out at her mom.

"Don't worry baby, you'll see him again real soon. From now on, you're going to be spending your time staying here with Papa, as well as at home with me. It won't be like it used to be, I promise, Baby."

"Really?"

"Really," they both confirmed, watching the smile light up Maggie's face. She threw herself into ecstatic hugs with both of them, before running off to do as she had been asked.

Steve shared a long look and a smile with Diane as she disappeared. This was how it was supposed to be and their daughter's reaction confirmed that better than anything else.

Seeing Diane shift to get up, Steve quickly climbed to his feet and gently helped her stand. Once she was up, she leant forward and pressed a kiss to Steve's cheek. "You deserve to be happy, gorgeous. And from what I've seen and heard, he could make you very happy, so buckle up some of that SEAL bravado and go for it."

Danny frowned as a knock sounded at his door. He hadn't been expecting anyone and it was too late for salesmen or other door knockers. Putting the TV on mute, he slipped his gun into the back of his pants as a precaution and moved to open the door.

Coming face to face with a nervous looking Steve McGarrett was the last thing he'd expected.

"Steve, what are you doing here? You're supposed to be having dinner with Diane and Maggie."

"I did… We did… I just dropped them home," Steve said, shifting his weight slightly.

"I'm sorry, babe. Are you ok?" Danny asked, knowing how hard it could be to give up your little girl after spending time with them.

"Yeah. The new custody agreement will come through in a few days and then we'll work out the visitations and it'll all be fine."

"Then, what's wrong, Steven? Cause, Babe, I gotta tell you, you look like you're about to have a nervous breakdown."

Danny gestured for Steve to come inside, but Steve didn't move to enter. Instead, he seemed to muster some kind of courage and finally met Danny square in the eye.

"That night. That night, did you stay with me just because I was upset or was there another reason; one we've been dancing around for a while now, but neither of us are willing to mention."

Steve blurted it so quickly that it took a minute for Danny to process what he was asking, and in that minute Steve lost his courage and Danny could see him starting to close up again, thinking he'd made a mistake.

It was now or never, Danny realised and it was all up to him. He could deny it or say nothing, Steve would leave and they'd be uncomfortable around each other for a little while, before falling back into their usual routine. Or, he could be honest and change their relationship forever and quite possibly secure their happiness with one action.

As lost in thought as he was, he must have taken too long and with a stiff nod, Steve turned to walk away.

Without thinking, Danny moved swiftly, reaching out and catching Steve's hand before he could get too far away. Steve glanced down at where Danny was now holding his hand, before looking over his shoulder at his partner with a guarded expression.

"Stay with me?" Danny asked, his voice low as he tugged gently at Steve's hand. The smile that lit up Steve's face told him he'd made the right choice. As Steve turned to face him, Danny stepped back into his house, drawing his crazy SEAL with him. Once Steve was over the threshold, Danny pushed the door shut before snaking his hand up behind the taller man's neck and drawing those tempting lips down to meet his.

-fin-


End file.
